I am a tenured professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Political Science and Journalism at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences.

I also work as a political analyst for Spectrum News 1 Ohio and as a political reporter and producer for KOLR10 (CBS) in Springfield, MO (Nexstar Media Group). I appear on CTV News Channel and Global News in Canada and SKY News in the UK and Europe. 

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Additionally, I have served as visiting faculty member in political mass media in at the Future University in Egypt, and as a policy advisor and academic researcher for the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. I am also on the faculty advisory board for the University of Cincinnati Press. 

RESEARCH

My research focuses on media and politics, religion and politics, and marginalized groups. It has been included in Newsweek, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Christian Science Monitor, 538, The Blue Review, the London School of Economics blogs, and The Monkey Cage (Washington Post).

Experienced in polling and survey research, a 2010 midterm election survey I conducted for KOLR10 was ranked as one of the 10 most accurate US Senate polls that year (by candidate prediction error) by the National Council on Public Polls.For more information about my research and related projects, see my CV linked above right.

DATA AND PUBLIC REPORTS

EDUCATION

 2007

Doctor of Philosophy
Political Science

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

BOOKS

2020

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSIONS: RELIEVING RACIAL TENSIONS IN THE AMERICAN CITY. (with Valerie Martinez Ebers) Columbia University Press. (Lead Author)

BOOKS

2018

Muslims, Identity, and American Politics. Routledge

2017

A Matter of Discretion: The Politics of Catholic Priests in the US and Ireland. (with Elizabeth Oldmixon and Melissa Michelson) Rowman and Littlefield (Lead Author)

2014

Assessing MENA Political Reform: Mediators and Microfoundations. Lexington Books (Editor)

2013

God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion. (with Paul A. Djupe) Temple University Press

REPORTING/ANCHORING

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

RESEARCH
 

In addition to academic books, I have authored 47 peer-reviewed journal articles and 32 book chapters in outlets including:
 

• Political Research Quarterly

• Political Behavior

• Political Communication

• Urban Affairs Review

• American Politics Research

• Electronic News

• State Politics and Policy Quarterly

• Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

• Politics, Groups, and Identities

• Journal of Media and Religion

• Social Science Quarterly

• PS: Political Science and Politics

• International Studies Perspectives

• Oxford University Press

• University of Michigan Press

• Temple University Press

• New York University Press

• Routledge

• Palgrave

• Rowman and Littlefield presses

GRANTS

My research has been supported by grants from: 

• The National Science Foundation

• The Scripps Howard Foundation

• The American Political Science Association 

• The Religious Research Association

• The Kayal Fund for Arab American Research

• The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

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AWARDS
 

• First Place Award for Opinion/Commentary from the Missouri Broadcasters Association in 2020.

• Research award from the Broadcast Educator Association in 2017.

• Four Certificates of Merit from the Missouri Broadcasters Association in 2018, 2019, 2020 for my work in television news

Invited research talks at:
 

• Notre Dame

• University of Florida

• University of Manchester

• Texas Christian University 

• VoteNet/eBallot

• Institute for Social Policy and Understanding   

REVIEWS

God Talk provides a rich account of how religion shapes candidate and policy preferences. Through carefully constructed, executed, and analyzed experiments, the authors provide a more precise explanation of how religion is politically consequential.... God Talk offers one of the most thorough accounts of how religion functions in contemporary American politics, particularly in the context of political communication. The authors describe the bounds of elite influence, and they generate a more psychologically informed description of how religious labels serve as social identities. The book is an important read for those interested in the dynamics of public opinion and attitude change.

—Public Opinion Quarterly

At a time when events in the MENA region change on an almost daily basis, [Assessing MENA Political Reform, Post-Arab Spring] will help the reader or researcher to understand the impact of Arab Spring on continuing events in MENA, including the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The research used by the authors is well presented and documented. The writers have used a variety of sources including social and political theory, as well as public opinion polls and surveys to present quantitatively the opinions of the people. . . .This book is a necessary read for the Middle East political observer especially as so many questions remain on the table from the ongoing wars and negotiations, the Iran nuclear issues, and the Israel-Palestine problem. 

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—International Social Science Review

[A Matter of Discretion] is a welcome and important addition to several literatures. The volume combines a rigorous and creative multimethod research design with a sophisticated understanding of Catholic doctrine and social teaching and a nuanced understanding of two distinctive political cultures. This work will serve as an invaluable resource for scholars working in several diverse theoretical traditions.

— Ted G. Jelen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Calfano’s [Muslims, Identity, and American Politics] provides a thoughtful and nuanced picture of Muslim experiences in the United States. This is a timely contribution to our understanding of Muslim identity formation, with important implications for political attitudes and behavior. An essential read for scholars in the field as well as everyday Americans looking for insight on this understudied community. 

— Rachel Gillum, Stanford University